The present invention relates generally to electrical wiring systems and devices; and more particularly to an improved wireless electrical receptacle and electrical junction box apparatus which is safer, easier to install and replace and more cost effective and efficient to manufacture than conventional wired electrical receptacles.
The problems related to wiring electrical receptacles, including wall outlets, switches, and similar applications have been well documented. Aside from the costs associated with new construction involving the costs of an electrician and a drywall or plaster technician, there are certain difficulties associated with the repair and replacement of electrical receptacles and occasionally junction boxes.
Replacement of a conventional receptacle requires that the electrical power to the receptacle be turned off, and all electrical wires be detached before the old receptacle can be removed from the junction box. Replacement requires that the wires be reshaped and reattached to the new receptacle and then squeezed back into the junction box with the chance that one of the wires might break from being bent too much.
In the event that a junction box must be replaced, this usually means breaking a part of the sheetrock or drywall for access to the box, detaching the wires from the receptacle, pulling the wires out of the junction box, installing a new box, reshaping and sneaking the wires into the new box, reshape the wires again onto the receptacle and squeezing them in place, also with the chance of breakage. The drywall must then be repaired with cutting, installing, taping, floating, sanding, priming, painting and all the mess that goes with it.
Several inventions have sought to overcome these problems, including: U.S. Pat. No. 6,939,179 which discloses an electrical box that is secured to a stud and is pre-wired to allow a receptacle or switch to be plugged in; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,617,511 and 6,870,099 which disclose electrical boxes that are pre-wired from the outside and allow switches or receptacles to be plugged in; U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,443, which discloses an electric box that is electrified from the outside that allows receptacles or switches to be plugged in; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,333, which discloses a plug-in electrical junction box.
The foregoing inventions teach very intricate and complicated solutions that do not offer the simplicity of manufacture, safety and ease of installation found in the present invention.